Still In The ICU`

This week feels like its been years.

Sunday March 11
They started waking him up and had me in there a lot talking to him and getting him to respond.  He had to be awake enough to follow 4 commands to get the breathing tube out.  He was able to follow one.  So they resedated him again that night and planned on starting again on Monday.

Monday March 12
Monday was not a good day.  His kidneys were causing him problems and his blood gases weren't good.  One of these blood gases your body uses as a signal to breathe, and since his was way to high, he wasn't getting that signal so he wasn't breathing on his own.

Tuesday March 13
The heart looked great, and they were able to turn the pacemaker off and the heart pumped great on its own.  Still had a problem with his blood gases and but he as breathing on his own a little.  His sodium levels were very high and they were worried about swelling around his brain.  They had to give him some fluids to help lower the sodium levels, but because of his kidneys he couldn't get a lot of fluid.  So they had to find the balance between the two.


Wednesday March 14
Wasn't breathing on his on again.  Between the fluid in the IVs and the extra fluid he was given because of the sodium levels.  Creatinine was on the rise, but the doctors were still hoping to get his kidneys to start working on their own.

Thursday March 15
Was doing better and awake enough to watch come videos of the kids.  Creatinine levels were 4.7 but they were still hopeful that his kidneys would bounce back and start working.

Friday March 16
They finally gave in and started him on dialysis because his kidneys weren't filtering the blood even though they were making urine.  They also stopped the sedation in the morning and gave him some breathing exercises to do.  Once they were sure he could do them, they removed his breathing tube!  This was a big day for him.  Even better was the kids got to see him.  Warrior is old enough to go back, but the nurse got special permission for Sugar Peas to go back to see him.  We all needed this.

He was full of questions and so confused.  At first he couldn't figure out why he was in the hospital or what happened to him.  Then he started to remember and asked if he got his new heart.  Then he told me that it feels really weird.

The nurse kicked us out so he could rest for the night.  Tin Man wasn't happy about it, at all, and made sure she knew it.

Saturday March 17
He had so many questions and was so confused.  So many things that had to get done and didn't before he got the call were on his mind.  He was worried about if the mail got stopped, about delivering Girl Scout cookies, and even about Warrior's exit project.

He finally calmed down when I told him I had everything under control and the only thing he had to focus on was getting better.  Then he started to tell me all the reasons why he did not like his nurse.  This was fun trying to figure out because he doesn't make noise when he talks yet.

I wasn't fond of his nurse, so I can only imagine how much he really hated her.  She didn't like him much either because he kept flipping her off.

Sunday March 18 (Today)
He's not responding much today.  His fingers and toes are almost black because of 1.  an allergic reaction to Heparin (which is new because he's had it before) and 2. a reaction to one of the transplant meds.  They are starting him back on blood thinners to see if this will help with the circulation and get some of the pain in his hands and feet gone.

They removed 2 chest tubes today and the wound vac which is a great step for the heart.  He's back on dialysis and his kidneys have stopped making urine.  Hoping that this is only temporary and once they're well rested from the dialysis helping them out, they will start to recover and he won't need a kidney transplant.

Unfortunately there is no real test at this point, and only time will tell us what's going to happen with his kidneys.